title: Treatment of infected thoracic aortic prosthetic grafts with the in situ preservation strategy: a review of its history, surgical technique, and results.
abstract: For cardiothoracic surgeons prosthetic graft infection still represents a difficult diagnostic and treatment problem to manage. An aggressive surgical strategy involving removal and in situ replacement of all the prosthetic material combined with extensive removal of the surrounding mediastinal tissue remains technically challenging in any case. Mortality and morbidity rates following such a major and risky surgical procedure are high due to the nature of the aggressive surgical approach and multi-organ failure typically caused by sepsis. However, removal of the infected prosthetic graft in patients who had an operation to reconstruct the ascending aorta and/or the aortic arch is not always possible or necessary for selected patients according to current alternative treatment options. Rather than following the traditional surgical concept of aggressive graft replacement nowadays a more conservative surgical approach with in situ preservation and coverage of the prosthetic graft by vascular tissue flaps can result in a good outcome. In this article, we review the relevant literature on this specific topic, particularly in terms of graft-sparing surgery for infected ascending/arch prosthetic grafts with special emphasis on staged treatment and the use of omentum transposition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: ptossios@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Paschalis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tossios
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Avgerinos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karatzopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, West German Heart Center, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsagakis
authors.affiliation: 3rd Surgical Department, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sapalidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grosomanidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalogera
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kouskouras
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Christophoros N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Foroulis
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aristotle University Medical School, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Kyriakos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anastasiadis
mesh_terms: D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009102:Multiple Organ Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000601:surgery; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000601:surgery; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods
keywords: Aortic arch; Ascending aorta; In situ preservation; Irrigation; Omentum transposition; Prosthetic graft infection